[GUIDE] How to Disable Apps

[Kegman]

One thing not addressed:

The, the Show Notifications checkbox.
If you have an app that you don't intend to use, you want to uncheck this checkbox.
A pop up will say:

If you turn off notifications for this app,
you may miss important alerts and
updates.​

This has always meant that the market won't notify you about updates for the app.
(Which is fine, since you don't use it anyway). (Even disabled apps will see market update alerts).

However, Google violated their own rule about what this checkbox means when Google Hangouts came out.
In their rush to force everybody to Hangouts before it was ready, they also prevented Push of notification
to the old TALK app.

With every other app, if you attempted to keep an older version on your phone, without seeing the update
in your list of apps every time you check for updates, you could simply un-check the Show Notifications checkbox
and your phone would happily use the old version and not nag you to update.

But with Talk, Google also prevented Talk from getting notifications of incoming messages when this was unchecked.
So in order to remain on Talk you have to see the nagging alerts about updates. (Some of us can't get Hangouts
to work or fit on old devices).

So far as I know, only Google has confused the purpose of this checkbox. And I think they did it intentionally.

based on what I've experienced the show notifications is not for what you think. This checkbox disables the app from sending you notifications to your notification pull down box. Thats it. The apps still auto update just fine. Some apps like to cleverly hide the notification option and some like the apps whisper still will send you notifications even if its turned off in its own settings. I have several notable apps with turned off notifications and they always updated

 

[lets_go_android]

I disabled the Google Play Movies & TV app on my VZW GNexus running 4.2.2. When I check the Play Store for updates, the update for that app appears. If I let it do the update, the app is re-enabled again. Sounds like for apps like these, you may want to use the Greenify app mentioned by jtrangsr above to make them stay disabled. From jtrangsr's description, it sounds like you would not need to uninstall the updates when you hibernate an app. What happens when there's a new update for the hibernated app?

 

[Chuckcell]

'Would love to get that flipboard gone!

cvt

 

[terbo2]

I just got my very first Android Phone (Moto G) There are so many apps listed that look important...How do I know which apps I can disable and which ones I shouldn't mess with? Is there a list out there somewhere?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central, and congrats on your G! I'm not sure if there's a list specifically for that phone, but you can always experiment and re-enable a disabled app if you need to. Just don't disable Download Manager, since that's important for installing apps from the Google Play Store. Here's a list of apps I've disabled on my Nexus 5:

Email (I only use Gmail)
Exchange Services
Face Unlock
Google Hindi Input
Google Korean keyboard
Google Pinyin
HP Print Service Plugin
News & Weather
Sun Beam (live wallpaper)
TalkBack

You can disable all Google Play apps (like Books, Movies, etc.), but I'd leave Play Store and Google Play Services alone. Any preinstalled app that came with your G is definitely something to consider disabling.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I just got my very first Android Phone (Moto G) There are so many apps listed that look important...How do I know which apps I can disable and which ones I shouldn't mess with? Is there a list out there somewhere?

Welcome to the forums.
I would run through your list, and see what you have, but my X had such few bloatware apps that I didn't disable anything really.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC Forums app

 

[anon(7894520)]

By disabling, the apps aren't uninstalled and are still sitting in your devices and, therefore, can be re-enabled should you change your mind. They're sort of in a coma. [WARN]Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. You don't want to go and disable something your phone actually needs running to be happy. [/WARN] That said, let's take a look at how to do this quick, popular, and often useful tweak on both a Samsung (left) and Nexus device (right). Most other Android devices based on recent builds accomplish this in a similar manner.

ive disabled some bloatware and uninstalled them back to factory settings (which apparently means the app uses 0 KB) now.


anyhow how do i get the playstore to ignore these apps and refrain from listing them in the updates list?


i really want to keep automatic updates on but if the playstore re-installs these apps it beats the purpose. ive disabled notifications for this app in the phone's settings too but it doesnt seem to matter.

 

[B. Diddy]

If the bloatware is disabled, it shouldn't show up in the App Update list. Is that happening to you? If so, can you give an example of one of the apps that's showing up after being disabled?

 

[anon(7894520)]

If the bloatware is disabled, it shouldn't show up in the App Update list. Is that happening to you? If so, can you give an example of one of the apps that's showing up after being disabled?

ya nvm i think i got it now.


somewhow the app re-enabled itself on its own probably when i disabled the notification ( did that after disabling the app).


i ive disabled it again now and they are gone from the playstore. i hope it stays that way.

 

[Larry Jewell1]

Can I disable chat on and hangouts without hurting the phone on a S4

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Ms.O]

so in all this discussion of disabling, hibernating, freezing, uninstalling apps...i have a question:

on a non-rooted galaxy note (original), how do i know which apps are REQUIRED by the system for it to run correctly? i can sort of tell which apps are bloatware (ATT Locker, ATT Navigator, etc.). but beyond that, i can't tell which ones are gonna mess up my phone it i accidentally disable/freeze/hibernate them.

so i see that Greenify (in early stage) is now available on the play store for non-rooted phones and i'd like to try it... is that a good idea or not?

also, if anyone knows, when you "kill an app on startup" (Android Assistant option), is the app usable? is it just asleep, but usable? or is it, for all intents and purposes, unusable/disabled/unintalled?

thanks!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Can I disable chat on and hangouts without hurting the phone on a S4

Posted via Android Central App

Yes, you should be able to. Since you are only disabling, and problems occur you can easily enable.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC Forums app

 

[Golfdriver97]

so in all this discussion of disabling, hibernating, freezing, uninstalling apps...i have a question:

on a non-rooted galaxy note (original), how do i know which apps are REQUIRED by the system for it to run correctly? i can sort of tell which apps are bloatware (ATT Locker, ATT Navigator, etc.). but beyond that, i can't tell which ones are gonna mess up my phone it i accidentally disable/freeze/hibernate them.

so i see that Greenify (in early stage) is now available on the play store for non-rooted phones and i'd like to try it... is that a good idea or not?

also, if anyone knows, when you "kill an app on startup" (Android Assistant option), is the app usable? is it just asleep, but usable? or is it, for all intents and purposes, unusable/disabled/unintalled?

thanks!

Not all phones have the same bloatware. Give us what you are curious about and we can tell you yes or no.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC Forums app

 

[Ms.O]

well, i'm curious about all of these:


i started to "kill on startup" the ones with checks (via Android Assistant), but then stopped cuz i wasn't sure what was what.

thanx.

of these, basically, i use: clock, contacts, downloads, camera, browser, bluetooth, google play, google search, messaging, settings, email, gmail, phone, the keyboards, facebook, synchronize, wi-fi and you tube.

but maybe i use the others, but just don't know it.... ??

 

[B. Diddy]

If you don't use AT&T Navigator (and with Google Maps, not sure why you would), you should disable that one.

If you don't use Hangouts, and have a separate texting app, then you can disable that as well.

Other than that, I'd keep the rest of that list active. I can't comment on the Samsung apps, because a lot of those tend to be extras that not everyone needs. But I don't have a Samsung device.

 

[Betty Riehl]

Let's say a new Android user wasn't lucky enough to come across this wonderful thread before they just HAPPENED to somehow disable/uninstall Google Play Services on their tablet... Let's also say that, through some UNBELIEVABLY tenacious browsing, the user FINALLY figured out where the 'all' section was in the download manager and (sigh) was able to find the disabled app & re-enabled it... Let's say that this user's elation over finally figuring this issue out & fixing it was extremely short-lived when they realized that, while Google Play Services is working splendidly, the ACTUAL Google Play app (or whatever) is no longer... well, no longer anything!! No Google Play icon, no access, no downloading, zilch. Finally, let's say that the tablet this user was meddling with was actually the brand new tablet she gave her daughter for her birthday last month, and would be FOREVER IN DEBT to the brilliant Android guru who's able to help fix the imbecilic users screw-up!

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Had you also disabled Google Play Store? Go to Settings>Apps>All, scroll all the way down to the Disabled apps, and look for Google Play Store. If you see it there, tap it and tap Enable. Also make sure that you didn't disable Download Manager at some point.

 

[GinnyQ]

I really appreciate all the work you all do trying to help us, but I just don't understand most of the really technical stuff. When I see all those warnings, my hands start to shake! I have an LG Optimus F3, and I really like it, but it doesn't have much memory to begin with and it comes preloaded with apps! Lots of Apps!! My question that got me here was about whether we need all the Google Apps that I have. Really, with my non-technical mind, I can understand just enough that I'm probably dangerous. I realize, I'm probably not gonna start WW3, but between 1 desktop, 2 laptops, my phone, and I just bought a tablet, I spend half my life working on computers. There's always something wrong with one of them! I really hope I can live my life with the phone and tablet, because they give me less trouble than all the others. I don't stream music and movies, I don't play games. I just want something to keep up and in touch, but I can't afford a lot of data, so I do have to really watch it. Thanks again, for trying to help us, and letting me get a lot off my chest!










































F

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Disabling apps rarely causes any lasting problems. If you encounter a problem, it's a simple matter of re-enabling the app.

 

[andrew Neuville]

Hi,
I have a nexus 5 and I tried to disable any google app such as hangout and it worked well going through system>apps>all choose one and press disable.
However 2 are resisting and those are the ones I'd like the most to get rid off: 'Google Search' and 'Google Now Launcher' (I'll use Nova instead)
Those 2 have the 'disable' keyword keyword grayed.
Anyone knows how to disable those?
I actually managed once to disable 'Google Now Launcher', 'disable' was not grayed and then when pressing home nothing was happening(I did not have Nova installed). Worried of the situation, I put it back and now I can't remove it again. Just to say that there must be a way, maybe a bug in Android at that moment...
Anyway, if anybody knows, please share.
Cheers,